Few events are more traumatic for children than being separated from their parents. Research concludes they are at higher risk for impaired neurodevelopment, psychiatric problems, poverty, future homelessness and criminal justice involvement. Consider:

One nationwide study of runaway youths indicates more than 30% had been in foster care in the year before they took to the streets.

Some experts estimate that 40-45 percent of those leaving foster care become homeless within a year.

Several other reputable analyses amplify the long-term consequences of these figures, showing anywhere from 30% to 50% of homeless adults identified themselves as once being in foster care. This means many parents, struggling to find stability in housing for themselves and their children, are likely to have been homeless and in foster care themselves when young. In order to meet the goal of ending family homelessness, we must break this cycle because it perpetuates circumstances greatly contributing to future housing instability and other trauma for these families.